


Cheerios and Apple Juice

by LaOruga



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Davekat Week, Davekat Week 2020, F/F, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25693213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaOruga/pseuds/LaOruga
Summary: Two knuckleheads really go for it."It" being love.A college AU following davekat-week.tumblr.com prompts for 2020!
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam
Comments: 22
Kudos: 90
Collections: Davekat Week 2020





	1. Earth parties have alcohol and loud music

**Author's Note:**

> I will be posting a new chapter each day from August 3-9th in accordance to Davekat week 2020. 
> 
> It's been YEARS since I last wrote anything with some excuse of a plot! Thank you for being here! 
> 
> Day 1: Earth/Alternia

The first time Karkat Vantas meets Dave Strider is at his first college rager. Every house and dorm building in a five mile radius of the campus is throwing a party to celebrate the football’s team’s win against their instate rivals. 

It is on Kanaya’s insistence that Karkat is dragged out of his dorm room to meet with her girlfriend at Kappa Theta, which Karkat vaguely remembers Rose saying is the more artsy of the sororities on campus. 

All in all, it is not really Karkat’s scene. While the music isn’t the best, humans and trolls are dancing together wrapped in a blue and purple hue as if it were their last chance to party. 

Karkat himself doesn’t know much about earth sports but knows enough about football from movies and his earth and american culture class to know that for some of his peers, the win of the night was worth getting blackout drunk and sticky shoes. 

“Let’s find Rose!” Kanaya leans over and yells at Karkat. Still, he can barely hear her. 

Karkat nods and takes the hand Kanaya offers him as she leads him deeper into the house. It is a tight fit and at one point Karkat swears his feet are not even touching the ground. A few guys make some gross comments at Kanaya as she passes and before Karkat can even try to fight them, all it takes is a stern look from Kanaya to shut them down.

That, and her two protruding fangs probably dissuade them from further comment. 

They finally find Rose in the kitchen. She is standing in a corner with John (who lives in the room two doors down from Karkat) and a guy that is wearing dark sunglasses in the already dark kitchen. 

John sees them first and eagerly waves Kanaya and Karkat over. 

Rose quickly pulls Kanaya in and gives her a kiss and all but John look away. John is pretty oblivious but really friendly as well. He is one of the few humans that Karkat has frequent interactions with, despite having near nothing in common. 

“Hey Karkat,” Rose says after a moment, “You know John and this is Dave.” She nods to each of the guys.

“Do you want something to Drink? Kanaya, Karkat?” John asks, already making his way towards a large metal barrel on the other side of the kitchen. A large guy wearing a school jersey seems to be watching over it while simultaneously chatting with a voluptuous young woman that Karkat thinks might be a TA from one of his classes. 

“I’m having some delicious non-alcoholic coca cola.” Rose smiles at Kanaya, who smiles back.

“I’ll have the same.” She says.

John nods and looks back at Karkat. This is one of those topics that Karkat doesn’t know a whole lot about. Alcohol, the way it is on earth, is not really a thing on Alternia other than maybe supor. Karkat is also not the legal drinking age in the United States so he hasn’t ever tried any of the drinks that he has heard of in the Rom-Coms he watches. 

“Uh,” he stares back at John, “Whatever?” he shrugs. 

John throws him two thumbs up and then holds one finger up for the guy watching over the barrel. 

After that things kind of unfold. Rose and Kanaya don’t take long before heading into the sweaty mass of people to dance. Kanaya makes sure to check in with Karkat before leaving but the good friend he is, he nods and rolls his eyes at her. 

John is surprisingly popular and is recognized by many of the folks passing through and finds himself drawn into various conversations, leaving Karkat to sip what is probably the most disgusting beer alone with Dave. 

The school fight song begins to blast and Karkat swears the whole house begins to shake. He glances over at Dave and wonders if he’s staying behind out of politeness. 

Karkat takes another sip and he grimaces. Dave is saying something but his voice gets muddled as a crew of people run through the kitchen screaming and signing. 

Dave waits for a moment, as if waiting for a response but Karkat half shrugs and points to his ears. He can’t hear shit, what is the guy expecting? 

Karkat is halfway to taking another drink, contemplating just downing the whole thing so he doesn’t have to deal with it anymore, when Dave suddenly leans in impossibly close to Karkat’s face. 

Dave’s breath hits Karkat’s ears as he shouts, “How’s your drink?”

Karkat wonders if his cheeks are a little flushed, if they are, he will chalk it up to the alcohol and the embarrassment that a stranger is up in his face. 

“It tastes like ass!” he shouts back, leaning in slightly towards the taller man. 

Dave’s mouth quirks up slightly, an eyebrow raised, “Is that good or bad?” 

At this point Karkat has decided that he is going to leave this party. He will text Kanaya a sort of apology but he is done with this party. 

“Fuck you!” Karkat shouts. Dave cups his ear and leans closer to Karkat. He’s smiling, not quite a grin but something playful. “I said, fuck you!” he screams again and leans back to flip him off for good measure. 

Dave looks away and holds his hand up to his chest as if scandalized, “How forward of you, Karkat. Please, ask me out on a date first. I’m not that easy.” 

If Karkat were still a teenager, he would have punched the glasses clean off of this guy already. But he told himself he wouldn’t be like that on earth. 

And Karkat would be lying if he didn’t feel a little embarrassed and scandalized at the insinuation, because Dave’s little smile was making him feel all tingly. 

“Here,” Dave says, reaching for Karkat’s arm. His pale slender fingers look almost glowing under the purple light as they gently wrap around his wrist. 

Karkat can’t help but watch in bewildered awe. Most humans are pretty cagey about being near trolls, much less touching one. Kanaya and Rose have gotten a few mean catcalls while out in the town. And even though the campus is pretty liberal on the topic, Karkat understands that the country and the earth in general still has deep seeded pockets of xenophobic ideas and culture. 

Dave holds Karkat with enough firmness that he thinks he might be able to feel his pulse. He takes out a red pen out of his sweater pocket and begins to write out a number. 

“Here,” he says, “now you can call me to ask me on that date.”

Karkat growls and yanks his hand back. He doesn’t expect Dave to let go so easily so the force ends up knocking his hand back enough that it hits the one holding the now room temperature beer. 

It spills all over his red sweater.

“Oh shit,” Dave reaches for some paper towels sitting on the counter next to him. It wasn’t a whole lot of beer spilled, Karkat actually drank more of it than he realized but his patience was definitely spilled and soaked up but the earth’s obnoxiously painful sun. 

Karkat grabs the paper towels out of Daves hands and pushes him aways, “You’re fucking crazy if you think I am going to ask you on a date. You grade-a dick! You should ask me on a date so I can’t say ‘fuck no!’ you pompous, shades-in-the-dark, fool!” He half pats his sweater and half flails about. 

He growls again for good measure, racking his brain for another insult, the alcohol must be inhibiting his comeback skills. Karkat wonders, for a split second, if all trolls have such a small tolerance for beer, before looking back up at Dave’s face

His cheeks are a slight pink and he’s rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry,” he mumbles, not really looking at Karkat directly. From that angle, Karkat catches a glimpse of red eyes and his heart feels very similar to the way it did the first time he watched the timeless classic, ‘Hitch’.

“Whatever,” Karkat says under his breath, more for himself than anyone else. Dave is watching him silently, his expression back in the same stoic phase that he was wearing when Karkat has just arrived. 

Karkat huffs again and takes out his phone from his pocket. He tries not to be super obvious about what he’s doing, just in case he changes his mind or his own cowardice takes over sometime before he hits send. 

The false sense of courage wins and Karkat hits send and pockets his phone. It doesn’t take even five seconds for Dave to pull out his own phone. He looks from an unknown number’s angry yellow emoji on the screen, back to Karkat, who is already speed walking out of the kitchen and out the back door. 

Dave thinks about how he really had no intention to come to this party. How he really didn’t give a shit about football despite coming from a state where football was everything. He thinks about how Rose enlisted help from John and Jade whom they knew would be swallowed up by social obligations, to convince Dave that he had to be at this very party. He thinks that as a last ditch effort, Rose told him that Kanaya would bring her own friend-- a newbie transfer student from an Alternian school. One that he’s been watching from the back of his film and music theory class for most of the term now. 

Dave thinks about all of this as he adds the number to his contacts. Karkat Vantas and a little angry emoji. 

He sees Kanaya and Rose making their way back to him, the tiniest hint of worry in Kanaya’s face. 

“I think he went home.” Dave says, scrolling through his emojis until he finds the one with some basic looking shades and a smile. 

“Of course he did,” Kanaya sighs,phone in hand. “Oh! He made it back to his room okay,” She smiles at Rose, relief evident in her voice. 

It’s not long before Karkat replies with a stream of angry yellow emojis. 

“Ready to head out?” Rose asks a wide smile on her face. 

The party is still going on. The dancing and drinking have only escalated and people are already pouring into the kitchen and pulling out even more bottles of hard booze. There’s a lot of excited energy in the room. It doesn’t seem that appealing to Dave, anymore. 

“Walk us home, sweet brother?” Rose grins, Kanaya hides a shy smile in Rose’s hair. 

Dave rolls his eyes but nods to the back door, the same exit Karkat had taken. 

“Maybe I can share a couple of stories about teenage Karkat?” Kanaya smiles with sincerity but the pokes that Rose gives him in the ribs let Dave know that he’s being teased. 

“Why don’t I share some about Rose instead?” Dave smiles back. 

Kanaya grins, “that sounds delightful!” 

The three of them walk out of the sorority and through the campus. Dave shares a couple fun stories about Rose and himself when they were kids Rose eventually ends up telling her own stories. 

Dave only half listens as they walk past the dorm buildings, wondering when the next time he will actually get to talk to Karkat will be. Whether he should even really bother. 

He is back in his own dorm room, getting ready for bed, when he takes out his phone again. It’s kind of a weird feeling to not have the words to respond, he’s been known to be verbose. 

Dave sends one last sunglasses emoji before taking off his own and going to bed.


	2. Group projects can be stressful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys start their class final project. 
> 
> Day 2: Romcoms and music

It doesn’t take very long for Dave to run into Karkat again. In fact, it takes about a day and a half. 

Karkat is already sitting on the far right side of the lecture hall, right in the front row. He is wearing a gray baseball cap, which is pretty customary of most trolls that take classes during the day-- it helps with the effects of the sun.

Dave usually shows up about a minute before class starts which means he always gets a mid center seat. Technically he shouldn’t be able to really notice Karkat from where he sits, but he is difficult to not notice during his outbursts. 

Today, however, Dave makes a little more effort to get through his morning routine faster than usual and ends up arriving to class about five minutes earlier than usual. The lecture hall has not really filled out but a few people have trickled in. The professor for their class is aggressively clicking the keys on her computer keyboard and shuffling through a stack of papers. 

The lecture hall is still fairly empty, which is great because Dave sees that his desired seat is empty. 

Karkat is focused on a black bound book and doesn’t notice when Dave sits two seats to his right. 

“That book must be pretty damn good.” 

Karkat jumps at the sound. He clutches the book to his chest and his eyes go from wide surprise to narrowed in suspicion. 

Even if Dave's voice sounds different in an even, normal, inside-voice tone, Karkat recognizes the obnoxious shades and the ghost of an accent. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He scowls. 

“I go here?” 

“Since when!”

“Since always?”

“I have literally never seen you in this room!”

Dave shrugs, “I usually sit in the back.”

“Why are you sitting here now?”

“Because I want to get a good grade. Gotta boost my GPA, keep the scholarships and shit.”

Karkat huffs and takes off his hat, his nubby horns extra visible when his hair is flattened out by the cap. Dave watches him run a hand through it to fluff it back up. 

“You better not be annoying during class.” Karkat finally says.

“Says the guy that blows his top every time anyone criticizes a romantic comedy.”

“Hey! If they had real critiques and not some wack-ass misogynistic trash opinions about what is, no doubt, one the best genre of this generation, I wouldn’t have to spend so much time educating them!”

Karkat flails about for a moment and misses the upwards twitch of Dave’s mouth. 

“Dude, chill out.” 

Dave motions slightly towards the front of the room.

Karkat turns his attention and winces when he sees the professor standing a few feet away from them, staring daggers back at them. She’s clutching a stack of papers covered in ink. 

“I will not hesitate,” she hands Dave his paper-- no ink on the text but it looks like she wrote an essay on the back. “I will not hesitate! To move you! If you both cause a disruption!” her jaw clenched.

Karkat opens his mouth to respond but she is quick to cover his face with his marked up paper, “I will treat you like children if you choose to behave like children. Understood?”

“Yes ‘mam.” Dave says in a thick accent and Kakat can’t help the snort that comes out of him. 

“I’m not kidding, Strider, Vantas.” She says one last time before walking away.

Karkat looks down at his paper and then tries to sneak a peek at Dave’s, “What’d you get? An F, based on the essay on the back.”

Dave flips the paper around. A bright pink A is circled at the bottom. “You?”

Karkat mirrors the movement and shows Dave his grade, it is also an A. 

Dave nods, “Nice.”

..

It becomes routine for Dave to show up at his usual time of almost-late-but-just-in-time to class and to sit two seats to the right of Karkat. 

At one point it becomes a habit to take turns bringing each other coffee to class. Dave started the trend when he texted Karkat for his coffee order on some night. 

“Think of it as an apology for the beer thing.” He said casually,

“I’m taking the coffee but not your apology!” 

Dave sips his coffee, “You took the coffee and the coffee is the vehicle of apology. It is no longer in my hands. The ball is, as they say, in your court.” 

“No it does not! That is not how apologies work! Tell me what you’re drinking!”

From there, it just became a thing. 

It also turns out, to the relief of the professor, that having Dave nearby mellows out Karkat when it comes to his arguments. She sometimes feels a little bad that Dave became like a lightning rod for Karkat’s biting words, but she appreciates that Karkat doesn’t just scream at people anymore and as a pleasant bonus, Dave has even begun to participate in class discussions a little more. 

“Alright,” The professor sighs, “Y’all, we finally made it to dead week! Which means that I am going to publish your final on Canvas. You’ll find instructions there, but know that it is a group project!” She pauses for the collective groans that flood the room, “I hope you got to know each other over the course of the term, I know we have a few writers but you’re also going to need a composer and an editor.” the class starts to quiet down again and she uncrosses her arms. “Groups of 3! I did the math! Don’t try it! Understood?” She doesn’t pause, “We will end early so you can look over the rubric on Canvas and get your groups set up. This is due on the assigned date and time of our final!” The professor claps twice and then makes a motion with her hands to dismiss them. 

Karkat chews his lips and looks at the crowd of classmates. He knows a few of them, not enough to call them friends or even acquaintances, but he has seen them in some of his other writing courses. Group projects are tricky. He is not the best at following orders or keeping his mouth shut. He come across kind of aggressive even when he doesn’t really mean to. It’s something that Kanaya has been helping him work through. 

Not only that, he knows that him being a troll will make for some embedded discomfort. Even if everyone is polite and amicable, the tension is there. There’s only so much of that feeling Karkat can handle without exploding at people which in turns freaks them out. It’s a Karkat’s cycle. The cycle of his goddamn life. 

He is busy looking at them all shuffling and wondering if he can come up with an excuse to get out of turning in a group project. He might be able to do it, the professor doesn’t hate him that much. She might be sympathetic to his situation. Karkat is busy formulating his excuse and doesn’t notice the young woman with brunette hair that walks past him to talk to Dave. 

“You’re a composer, right?” she smiles, “I’m a writer. We should work together. Dave right?” 

“Maddie right? Yeah I do music. But Karkat is my writer.” 

Karkat whips around at the sound of his name. “Do you edit?” Dave asks. 

Maddie turns around to look at an annoyed Karkat. She fixates on his horns and reaches to clutch a silver cross that hangs around her neck. 

Karkat feels his face get brighter. He knows that motion. He knows what she’s thinking. 

“Uh, no. I don’t edit.” she turns back to Dave, “But I am a really good writer.” She moves closer to Dave and puts him between Karkat and her. 

Karkat wants to scream but he knows he will lose his transfer scholarship if he picks a fight with the girl. Instead, he tries to do some of the breathing exercises that Kanaya has made him practice. 

“I’ve read some of Karkat’s stuff,” Karkat begins choking on air and wonder when dave did such a thing, “he’s pretty good himself. Good luck finding a team,though. We need to find someone who can edit.” The last part he addresses to Karkat.

In two swift motions, Dave has his backpack and the rest of his things ready to go. 

“Let's go,” He says to Karkat, “I think that nerdy kid over there said she used to make anime music videos or something.” He is not looking at Karkat as he walks past him but does softly pat his shoulder when he does. 

Karkat looks over at the brunette, still clutching her chain, he sticks his tongue out at her and grins when she gasps horrified at the sight.

The rest of class Karkat feels triumphant. 

Dave and he find an editor who is very down with creating a trailer for a romantic comedy.

“Really, Karkat?”

“It will have everything, Strider!”

“A rom com sounds fun!”

“See! Thank you, Nepeta!”

Together they outline a basic premise for Karkat’s script and create a character list. After a while the professor looks up from her computer and lets them all know that the official class time is over and that they need to get out so the next class can start. 

They both get Nepeta’s phone number and she promises to make a poster by that night to recruit some actors. 

“How’d it go, Dave?” Maddie catches him by the sleeve. Karkat thinks about continuing without him, they’re technically not going to another class. They often argue on their way back to their respective dorms, sometimes they go to the mess hall together or just sit under a shady tree sharing music or movie suggestions. 

But none of that has to happen, it’s not a formal agreement that they hang out together after class. 

Dave catches Karkat by his backpack and he tumbles back with a short yelp. Dave helps him steady himself while Karkat readjusts the hat.

“It was good.”

“Where are you headed now?”

Karkat rolls his eyes but doesn’t really turn around to look at them. 

“I’m going to go mess around with some beats.”

“Oh, why don’t we get lunch and you can show me some of your music? The piece you shared in Carey’s class was beautiful.”

Karkat ponders for a moment, he knew Dave composed what he called, “sick beats”, but Karkat had never heard any pieces himself. It shouldn’t make him feel so annoyed to find that Maddie has heard a Strider original, it’s not like Karkat has intentionally shared any of his personal writing with him either.

“Oh, thanks, but I already have plans with Karkat.”

Dave doesn’t wait for a response. Instead he pushes Karkat forward and out the door. 

Neither of them really say anything until they’re crossing the lawn and heading towards the library.

Karkat is the one to break the silence.

“She was clutching at a cross. One of those Jesus ones!” 

“Yup,”

“She is so fucking racist!”

“Yup.”

“She was obviously into you.”

“Er, I guess?”

Karkat stops at the steps of the library and looks back at Dave. It is a cloudy autumn day, there is no need for the glasses but that’s not going to stop him from wearing them twenty four seven. 

“Don’t be a fucking idiot, she was all over you! Trying to score some more time with you. Practically throwing herself at you. I’ll admit that took guts. But still. Ugh!” He throws his hands up to the sky looking up. 

Despite the overcast the sunlight still stings his cheeks. 

Dave moves closer and Karkat inhales when he sees the familiar playful smirk that he had seen at the party that first night. 

“Karkat, are you jealous? Did you think I would drop you as my partner the first time a hot piece of ass batted their eyelashes at me? Don’t insult me Vantas, I am a gentleman-- I only court one person at a time.”

Karkat sputters, earning them a couple of odd looks from a few passersby. 

“Are you fucking courting me?” he shouts. 

Dave pulls back as if his words are catching up to him, “What!”

“You are not fucking courting me, Strider! I will punch right here! We will both lose our scholarships!”

“Dude, no, chill the fuck out. I was just messing around!”

Karkat’s face gets a little darker, if he wasn’t wearing a baseball cap, Dave may have even noticed the slight red tinge to his cheeks. It’s extra painful since they’re still stinging a little from facing up at the sky.

Karkat hisses, his face lowered, “Do not mess with me Dave.” his words are quieter than he intends them to be. “I’ll send the script to the group chat later.”

Dave watches Karkat storm off the same way he had done that first night at the party. Except this time it makes Dave feel a little different. He feels exasperated? Annoyed? Hurt? They have argued and teased each other before. Why does this argument feel different?

He pulls out his phone and thinks about sending him a text. It’s not unusual for them to text anymore, but he also doesn’t feel like being shut out digitally as well. Instead, Dave puts on his headphones and clicks play on his playlist. He walks up the steps and into the library.

His phone buzzes and Dave tries not to feel deflated when it’s a text from John letting him know that he can see him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am writing this fic kind of in a hurry, lmao. Which means I am not exploring some topics as much as I would like to. Like the whole dynamic between Karkat and his classmates which I hope to do in the next instalment. 
> 
> I also would live to have them interact with other characters a lot more...
> 
> maybe this will get fleshed out later when I am not in the middle of a major transition period lol. 
> 
> Anyways! thanks for taking the time y'all. I've never posted a writted work before but I'm liking the experience.


	3. Friends are great at giving you context

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3, Trollhood

Making his way to the other side of campus is Karkat. He thinks about heading to his dorm but realizes that Kanaya doesn’t have class right now and he is standing right outside of her dorm building. 

He sends her a quick text, he asks if she’s there and if she’s alone. He doesn’t tell her that he can’t stand to look at a Strider look-alike right now. 

It doesn’t take long for her to greet him at the door. She steps out into the sunlight, she’s probably the only troll on campus who can walk in the daylight and not cry in pain. Kanaya always looks put together but she’s also passionately fierce. She has always treated Karkat with dignity which is why he knows she’ll set him straight if he needs it. 

“Karkat,” She hands him a cup of tea. He sits cross-legged on her bed. “Karkat, you know I love you, but I think you’re in the wrong here.”

He narrows his eyes at the tea. He came here for the truth and he was going to swallow it. 

“He teased you a little, that’s not out of the norm.” She steps up her stool and climbs on the bed to sit next to him. 

“He’s always messing with me.” Karkat sighs. “And yeah, we argue but not really about that.”

“Are you really that bothered by his teasing? Or is it something else?” They both know where the conversation is going. It always ends up here. The root of all of his problems. 

Karkat sighs and takes a bigger drink. He can’t remember the blend type anymore but it's something she has shared since they were growing wrigglers in the caverns of Alternia. It tastes of Kanaya and home.

“Dave’s kind of cute.” 

Karkat is so caught off guard he spills the tea down his shirt. 

“Wouldn’t you agree?” She says without missing a beat. She takes the cup from his hands and replaces it with some paper towels. 

“You say that because he looks just like Rose.”

Kanaya hums, “Maybe, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is cute,”

“Yeah, well being cute doesn’t make me feel better about him being an ass.”

“Do you like him?”

Despite the hot tea on his chest Karkat feels his body go cold.

“He’s fine, I guess. I don’t hate him.”

“Karkat, this isn’t Alternia. You are not defined by what some archaic rules of trollhood here. You’re allowed to have a crush. Give in to the teasing a little. He might mean it more than you think.”

Kakat scoffs, “He literally said he was messing with me.”

“You were screaming at him.”  
“He’s human. I am a troll.”

“Don’t insult me.”

“That’s different. You know Rose is head over heels for you.”

“We took the time to get to know each other first. Karkat, I like to think that we know each other pretty well. We’ve been friends for a long time. I know that you’ve experienced some rejection in the past,” Karkat brings his knees up and buries his face, “but I know that you are an exceptionally thoughtful person and you are deserving of falling in love.” 

Kanaya places a hand on his back, “I know that most of your life has been survival and because of that you’ve had to be extra cautious about the relationships you build. But Karkat, I think you should give Dave the benefit of the doubt. I can tell you like him a lot. It’s been a really long time since you last came in to talk about your relationship woes. Real ones, not the ones from your movies.”

Karkat turns to look over at Kanaya. She’s close to him, watching with a soft expression on her face. 

“Get to know Dave and see where it goes. If it doesn’t work out I’ll be here to cry with you and help you work through it. You won’t do it alone. But I think we both know you will regret it if you shut him out completely, over some thoughtless comments you both made.”

After a moment Karkat sits up, “I have to go write a stupid script for our final project. And I’m pretty sure I made you late to class” 

Kanaya smiles, “Oh, don’t worry about that.”

..

Dave slides into the chair across from John. 

“How’s it going?” 

Dave takes off his headphones and pulls his computer out. 

“It’s fine. I’m just going to work on some stuff. Are you doing coding or improv?”

John laughs and turns his computer around for Dave to see. There’s a long roster of names that he scrolls through.

“Frat stuff,” he says with a toothy grin.   
“Dope.” 

Dave was never interested in joining a fraternity. Not even to be ironic. In high school, that seemed to be the thing that most of his classmates were interested in but that never seemed worthwhile to Dave. John, however, seemed to thrive on the social interaction. He pledged last year and was mostly doing tedious tasks for the fraternity but they all loved him. He definitely had a hand in making his frat one of the most inviting ones on campus. 

“Where’s Karkat? Don’t you usually hang out after class?”

Dave’s expression doesn’t change but he suddenly seems to be very focused on his computer.

“We don’t always hang out together.” He pulls up his email. He has one from Nepeta addressed to both him and Karkat. There’s two attachments. One is a PDF calling for actors for a short romcom trailer with the promise of food and experience. The second is a copy of the collective notes that they took during their planning. 

“You’ve been hanging out a lot lately,” John keeps typing away on his computer.

The notes are full of Nepetas neat but curling handwriting. It’s cute and round much like her personality. On the margins Dave can make out the doodles of cats and angry looking Karkat bubbles that they both started drawing once Karkat started his rant about the elements of a compelling romantic comedy. 

“We have class together,” Dave responds. 

Johns makes a sound of agreement before hitting send on his email to the board of directors and then lowers his screen to a forty-five degree angle. 

“Actually, I’m really glad you have been getting along.” John smiles. It is genuine-- any time John smiles it feels like he really means it. “You know, He’s in the dorm a couple doors down from me.”

Dave nods. This is not new information to him. He’s never been in Karkat’s dorm room, but he’s mentioned that John likes to play pranks on the hall residents. 

“Things haven’t been super easy for him. I don’t know a whole lot but I know that there’s a lot of folks who don’t really like him.” Dave thinks back to Maddie, “And I don’t mean just humans who have some messed up ideas about Alternia and trolls, I mean even trolls don’t really like him.”

Dave stops clicking through his email and directs his attention to John. 

“I mean I don’t really get it. And maybe this isn’t really for me to be sharing,” John looks around and lowers his voice to a whisper. 

“But, they call him a mutant. Like other trolls do.They whisper mean shit about him behind his back and I know that sometimes they post things on his door about him getting culled or something. Apparently he has red blood. Which I guess is bad? Even though every human on earth has red blood?” John looks around again for good measure.

Dave doesn’t know a whole lot about life on Alternia. He knows about the caste system based on the hemospectrum-- Rose has explained that much to Dave. But as far as he understood, culling trolls based on their blood or perceived weakness wasn’t really a thing anymore. 

“And I like Karkat. A lot actually. He’s pretty funny and I’ve seen him do some cute shit. Like once I saw him feeding the ducks over on the quad and then they chased him around. It was hilarious. Comedic gold!” 

Dave pictures an angry Karkat running through the quad lawn with a trail of ducks nipping and quacking at his feet.

“But I think he keeps to himself a lot. He doesn’t really hang out with many people. Other than Kanaya... and sometimes we will hang out in the common room and debate movies-- but he always retreats when other people get involved.”

John fixes his eyes on Dave, he can’t see his red eyes when he wears his shades indoors, but he pretends to lock on them anyways, “I think he’s really used to rejection and people kind of treating him like shit. Don’t get me wrong, he can be a handful too, but I think a lot of that is just a front.”

Dave peers back into John's blue eyes. He hasn’t really moved or said anything. There’s a lot about Karkat he doesn’t know, but this explains his reaction to earlier. Dave leans back in the chair.

He can’t imagine what that must be like. To feel excluded not just by the humans that he goes to school with on a strange planet, but to also feel excluded by the people who are supposed to be his tie to home and community. Granted, Dave’s life was not a walk in the park, but at the very least he could fake it until he made it with a lot of things. There were aspects about Karkat’s life that he just could not hide as easily. 

“Anyways,” John sighs, “I’m like, really happy that you two have been hanging out. You can be kind of a loner too. That worries me sometimes. I know we don’t get to hang out all of the time anymore and Rose and Kanaya have their thing...and then Jade…” he trails off, “But you and Karkat seem pretty chill.”

“There’s really nothing chill about that guy,” the phone in Dave’s pocket starts to vibrate.

“Oh totally, the guy does not know that chill is a thing, but I don’t know. You seem, kind of happier?” 

Dave raises an eyebrow at John. 

“I know that after the way things between you and Jade kind of played out last year you have been, a lot more, err, how do I say this delicately,” he mumbles for a moment, “Emotionally constipated?”

Dave’s mouth hangs open.“I am not. Emotionally constipated.” 

John shrugs and gives him a shy smile, “You kind of are, dude. You stopped dating, which is fine, no need to rush back into that. But don’t think we didn’t notice you going out to hook up with--” There’s a pregnant pause when John cuts himself off. Dave feels the air around him drop in temperature yet his body feels like it’s on fire. 

“And you also stopped making music for yourself. You hardly laugh, not that you did a whole lot before but man, I haven’t seen you smile, really smile, in months. You’ve just been really quiet.”

“I’ve been working through some stuff.” Is all Dave can bring himself to say.

John nods, “I figured, But Dave, we’ve known each other for years. I’m here for you. Whatever-- whenever you’re ready.”

Dave sighs,“I know.”

It was never his intention to isolate himself from his closest friends. But he’s been trying to process what it means to be Dave Strider the individual while existing in the context of a collective humanity. And a lot of that is work he needs to do on his own. 

“Well good!” John closes his computer and starts pushing it into his backpack. “Either way, I’m glad things between you and Karkat are working out!”

Dave forwards a flyer to John and asks him to share it with his improv group before he leaves. He doesn’t text Karkat, even though he wants to. He wants to ask him about his experiences in Alternia or even just what it has been like living on Earth the past two years. He wants to understand who he is. 

Instead of texting Karkat, he thinks about what John said about emotional constipation. About how he stopped doing the things he loved doing. 

Dave collects his things and decides to make his way towards the studio in the music building. One his way there he takes out his phone and sees that Nepeta has started a group chat where she has sent an invite for a work session as well as some names of interested actors. 

He accepts the invite as he walks into an empty music room. It’s been a while since he left inspired, he realizes. 

And for the first time in months, Dave starts writing music again. Nothing for a class, nothing that has to follow a rubric, just unfiltered words and melodies, straight from his emotionally constipated heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all I ended up writing this at 1 am. I am so tired now. Looking for coffee. 
> 
> Also...maybe projecting a little when it comes to Dave? 
> 
> Group project and probably some US centric holidays in the next chapter!
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


	4. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They work on their group project and sing happy birthday!

Nepeta lives off campus with a couple of other roommates. Karkat and Dave don’t plan on walking together but inadvertently run into each other about a block away from campus. Nepeta doesn’t live far but it is dark and even though physically it is less painful to walk out once the sun has set, the darkness means that he can’t tell who or what is going to jump out at him. 

So while Karkat was not trying to spend the walk in awkward silence. He is a little grateful to not be alone when they pass a large group of drunk students. 

“It’s my fucking birthday!” one of them shouts and the rest of the group roars in loud celebration. 

Dave pretends not to notice how Karkat inches closer to him as they walk. Their arms brushing slightly on occasion.

As they arrive at Nepeta's residence, a muscular troll with broken glasses is leaving the house. Three cats dash out the door and past the troll startling him in the process.

“Catch them!” Nepeta screams from inside. 

Karkat manages to catch an orange tabby. Dave, who is a few steps behind him and has much faster reflexes catches the other two cats. 

“Sorry!” Nepeta offers an apologetic smile as she takes back the cats, “Come on in! I made coffee if y’all want some!”

Karkat can’t help but look around with a curious gaze. Television and movies are mostly filmed on sets, so he’s never really had the opportunity to see what a real house looks like. 

Nepeta leads them to the kitchen, “It’s pretty different from the set up in Alternia, right?”  
“I’ve never seen the inside of a house. I mean like a suburban house. Not a weird greeklife house packed with people and booze.”

Dave takes the mug that Nepeta is offering him and looks at Karkat as he drinks. He wonders what the cave Karkat grew up in was like. 

“I can give you a tour later!” She looks younger when she smiles, “Dave, what was your house like? Where did you grow up?”

The three of them settle at the kitchen table. 

“Uh, It was definitely smaller than this place,”

“Really?” It’s the first thing Karkat has said to him since their argument the day before.

“Yeah it was an apartment. So...probably like half of this place? There was no yard but there was a big public park that I used to hang out at. You could see it from our balcony window.”

Karkat looks at Dave with genuine fascination, he is trying to imagine what a young Dave would do at the park. Karkat couldn’t really leave or do much outside of his cave without running the risk of being found by a drone.

Nepeta is about to ask another question when Dave’s phone starts ringing loudly. 

He glances at the screen for a moment, ends the call and opts to send the caller a text instead. 

The three of them decide that it is late in the evening of a Saturday night and that they should really get going on their project if they’re going to turn it in on time. 

The actors that Nepeta vetted show up and they start filming.She ounces around with a camcorder that they checked out from the library and spend the next few hours filming. Dave takes notes as he watches and listens, slowly formulating some melodies. The piece he started working in after his conversation with John running through his mind. 

Occasionally, Karkat would catch him looking at his phone--his lips would tighten in annoyance as he responded to whoever was texting him. 

It is nearing nine when the actors leave and Nepeta suggests getting something to eat for themselves. They’re scrolling through their phones looking for something cheap and open, when Karkat shoots up from his chair.

“It’s your birthday?” He shouts. 

Dave looks at Karkat with surprise.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“Birthday? We should celebrate!” Nepeta is already out of her seat and rummaging through her kitchen. 

“It’s really not a big deal.” 

Karkat shoves a message from John in Dave’s face, “Then why is Egbert looking all over the place for you?”

Dave had not planned on sharing that today was his birthday. He and Rose had their traditional sibling breakfast at a diner near campus but they both had agreed not to do anything big for their 21st. American and college tradition dictated that they should be getting shitfaced tonight, but their family’s relationship-- including Rose’s personal history with alcohol-- was already pretty strained. Either way, Kanaya had special plans for Rose that evening anyways. 

As for John, He figured he would just forget. It was dead week and most of the frats on greek row were hosting big parties for the end of the term. 

Dave pulls out his phone and starts typing out another rejection to John’s invite. “He wants me to go to a party his frat is hosting to celebrate.” He hits send and John immediately replies with crying emojis. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

Nepeta sets out a lighter, a half melted candle that looks like it was at some point the shape of a cat, and an ice cream sandwich. 

“It’s really not a big deal.” Dave watches Karkat’s face go from annoyed anger to something softer.

“Aren’t birthdays kind of a big deal to humans?” Nepeta asks, putting the candle on top of the sandwich. 

“They can be,” Dave watches her light the candle, “Uh, we really don’t have to do this.”

“But we gotta sing the song!” she claps.

Karkat sits back down, “Wriggling days are not super celebrated on Alternia. It’s kind of just a day.” He says and pushes the plate with the sandwich towards Dave. Nepeta turns off the kitchen light and settles down next to Karkat with a gray cat on her lap. The orange tabby makes his way up and climbs up to sit on Karkat’s own lap as well.

Nepeta starts singing a bubbly sound but Dave is not prepared when Karkat joins in. His voice is rough and not melodic at all, it is clear that Nepeta is carrying the tune because even the tabby lets out a meowl and runs away. 

Against the concentrated yellow light of the candle, Karkat can see a faint blush and wide eyes hidden behind the shades. 

“Make a wish! Make a wish!” Nepeta cries as soon as the song ends.

Dave hesitates for a moment, he looks at Karkat, sitting quietly across for him. His expression is kind and content. 

The wish he makes isn’t really a wish. It’s more of a resolution.

He blows out the candle and smiles at Nepeta when she claps. 

She giggles and turns the lights back on. “That was so much fun!” 

Dave looks down at his melting ice cream sandwich. “It’s all yours!” She grins and waits for him to eat it. 

The three of them end the night by ordering thai food and watching a magical girl anime that Nepeta insists will be good inspiration for their project. And even though it is not exactly how Dave thought he would spend such a milestone birthday, surrounded by cats and with Karkat dozing off next to him-- he decides that it is probably one of his better birthdays.

..

When they finally start making their way home, Dave thinks about his birthday resolution. 

He looks up at the night sky, the stars shine brighter against the light of a crescent moon. The sound of distant music with heavy bass gets louder the closer they get to campus.

“Dave,” Karkat stops, “Dave, wait.”

Karkat is clutching the straps of his backpack. He’s looking at the ground, even if it’s too dark to see Dave’s reaction, he doesn’t want to take any chances of seeing rejection on his face.

“I want to apologize.” His voice shakes a little and he mentally growls at his own nervousness, “For blowing up or whatever.”

Dave stops and looks back at Karkat, “Dude, it’s okay. I should be apologizing to you. Teasing you--I didn’t mean to make you upset.” 

Karkat groans, “It wasn’t really the teasing. It was just…”he trails off. He doesn’t really want to get into it. He wasn’t even really planning on apologizing but the awkward silence was getting to him. He misses their bickering and dumb arguing. 

“No, I get it.” Dave says quietly, more softly than he has ever spoken to Karkat before, “Or maybe I don’t get it. Not entirely. Or not that I am not understanding it’s just that we have some pretty different lived experiences, right? Does that make sense?” 

Karkat nods, a familiar feeling welling up in the pit of his chest, admittedly this is the kindest rejection yet. 

Dave groans, “Okay, I’m fucking this up. What I mean to say is,” he takes a deep breath, “John told me a little bit about the hemospectrum stuff.”

Karkat’s mutant blood runs cold. There it was. Fucking John. He starts to step back away, he doesn’t want to hear it even if he’s being nice as fuck about it. 

“And, I don’t get that. It doesn’t make sense but I know there’s a shit ton of discrimination of all the kinds here on earth, but I don’t want you to feel unsafe or like you have to worry about that shit with me.” Dave feels as words begin to leave him, he has half the mind to try and hold them back, but they’re gone. 

“I really like hanging out with you Karkat. A lot. I think you’re a cool dude, even when you lose your shit in class.” He takes a deep breath, “I’ve had a pretty rough year and--” Dave pushes his shades up slightly to rub his eyes, “I’ve done a lot of soul searching which apparently, according to John, has actually left me kind of soulless, but the last couple of months, hanging out with you have been less shitty. Don’t look at me with your mouth hanging open, dude. Let me pour my heart out a little, it’s my birthday.”

Karkat is speechless, his mind feels fried. This was not the way he thought this conversation was going to go.

A group of drunk girls make their way past them. A blond with a white sash that says, “birthday girl” in bright pink stops a few steps in front of them and screams, “Love is love!” before an apologetic friend runs back to pull her friend along. 

“You should’ve said something. I would’ve gotten you a birthday present.”

The tension in both of their bodies dissipates and the air around them feels warmer. 

“Dude, your friendship is the best present a boy could ask for.” There is teasing in his words and Karkat feels relief wash over him.

Karkat bumps him with his shoulder, “Don’t be such a sapp,” 

He doesn’t get to see it, but Dave grins, wide and honest. It really does feel like the best birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, the american tradition of getting black out drunk when you turn 21. Drink responsibly, kids. Shit can be scary.  
> The next chapter will be Day/Night and hopefully kick a couple of things into action! Also there will finally be cheerios and apple juice. 
> 
> Thank you for your continued support!


	5. Things that happen in the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hugs! At night!

Finals come and go. During their final class together, the professor has them watch all of the submissions for the film trailers and then write a reflection on which films they would watch and why. 

At the end she thanks them all and gives some honorable mentions, including their romcom movie trailer. Karkat takes this win when Maddie’s group doesn’t get a shout-out.

“You did a good job of balancing out your team,” the professor shares, “It is clear that your concept and theme is a mix of your...abrasive styles.” She pauses to look at Dave and Karkat, knowingly, “But you tied it together nicely. Everyone, remember that when it comes to film every piece is important. It is a marrying of styles and ideas that sometimes clash. Your directors and producers can help teams navigate those things, but the best films are the ones where the team can collectively learn to vibe and use their relationship to understand the collective vision. If your composer and your editor don’t understand the feel of the script, then get ready for an arduous process!”

It’s Karkat’s last final of the term but he knows that Dave has one more that he’s been cramming for the last couple of days. 

“Do you want to get some food or are you heading to the library?” After their last conversation, Karkat feels a lot more comfortable inserting himself in Dave’s daily activities. Sometimes just quietly sitting together while they study for unrelated subjects or meeting for meals throughout the day. 

Dave opens his mouth and then closes it, he’s trying to think of how to respond and get the most out of the day. He wants to hang out with Karkat, to spend more time with him especially as winter break looms over them. He feels as if he needs to soak up as much time with Karkat, as if he could bottle it up and take it with him for the next two weeks that he anticipates being a shit show considering he still doesn’t know where he is going. 

“Will you bring me a snack? Fuel for my sad, mushy brain?”

Karkat rolls his eyes, “Yeah, I can go get you a snack. What do you want?”

Dave smiles, and bites back a “you, you’re the snack,”. 

He knows that once Karkat delivers the food he will stay, even if it’s not for long, he will sit with Dave for a while. 

“Cheerios and an AJ?” 

Karkat pulls his baseball cap out of his backpack and puts it on his head. His horns popping out of the makeshift holes that he had torn at the top of his hat. 

“Are you going to the dining hall?” Nepeta walks up behind them. She’s holding a black umbrella with little white cat faces. 

Karkat nods.

“Can I join you? I wanna ask you something.”

Dave’s eyes perk up, not that anyone can really notice, his lips part only slightly in curiosity. Nepeta is sweet and kind. She gets along with Karkat really well and he knows they’ve started messaging back and forth. It turns out that he and Nepeta were also taking a large lecture class together.

“Yeah Ok,” he turns to look at Dave, “I’ll see you in a bit? Send me a text so I know where to find you?”

“Sure thing. I’ll be deep in the throes of passion with statistics.”

He watches the trolls walk away. A twinge of insecurity lurks in the edges of his mind. 

..

Karkat places a prepackaged bowl of cheerios and a bottle of apple juice that he has seen Dave drink in the past. He wonders for a moment if he should also get him some milk. Cereal is eaten with milk? Right? But he learned after the ice cream sandwich of his birthday, that Dave doesn’t handle dairy super well. 

When Karakat finishes paying for his lunch and snacks, Nepeta is already waiting for him at a table. It’s a late afternoon lunch during finals, so the dining area is mostly empty. 

“So,” Nepeta begins. The ‘o’ is drawn, she looks at Karkat with wide eyes. “What are your plans for winter break?”

He swallows the bite of sandwich in his mouth. It goes down hard and dry. 

“I’m not sure,” he admits. Most trolls who are living in the dorms will either go back to Alternia or pool their money together and rent out a house for the two weeks.   
They’ll need to be out of the dorms by the end of the week. He’s not particularly fond of the idea of flying back home, but he has enough set aside to go back if he needs to.

Nepeta smiles wide. She looks like one of her cats, sweet and little dangerous. She sets down her spoon into the bowl of soup. 

“Well, I know that Alternia isn’t really kind to you. So you might not want to go back for two weeks. And I will be working at the shelter all through the break,” She averts her eyes for a split second. It’s an uncharacteristically indirect move for Nepeta.

“And the house will be mostly empty since almost everyone else is leaving for break,” 

Karkat’s thick eyebrows start to raise in surprise.

“You don’t have to say anything right now, but I think we’re friends and I just wanted to offer you a place in case you didn’t feel like going back to Alternia. There’s zero obligation but it would eat me away if I didn’t offer you a place to stay.” 

“Uh, thanks? Really, that’s super nice of you Nep, but I really don’t know right now. Kanaya and I were supposed to talk about it tonight.”

Nepeta waves her arms excitedly, “That’s okay! There’s zero rush. The offer stands! Just let me know?”

Karkat nods. He appreciates the offer and he doesn’t doubt that Nepeta is being genuine.

“I’m going to take Dave his cereal before he passes out or something.”

Nepeta smiles up at Karkat who is already picking up his things. 

“Talk to you later?” her voice is eager and confident.

Karkat nods and waves as he makes his way out.

He takes out his phone and shoots a Kanaya a quick message. He doesn’t want to assume anything about her plans. But they had talked before about doing something together during the winter. 

He wonders about what Dave’s plans might be. He doesn’t expect him to stay. Most of the humans leave for christmas and new years. He and Rose probably have all sorts of sibling shenanigans and traditions for winter break. 

The phone in his hand vibrates and the screen lights up with Kanaya’s response. A polite reminder that they’ve agreed to meet in her dorm room later that night.   
Inside the library, the silence is thick with concentration. Students, human and troll alike are slumped over tables, hungover from the parties of the night before but still determined to survive finals. 

Dave sent Karkat a duck-lip selfie where he could see that he had managed to snag one of the study rooms on the third floor. He makes his way up the stairs cereal and juice in hand. 

He taps lightly on the small window. When Dave sees him he opens the door and lets out a dramatic whine.

“Karkat,” he cries pushing the door close, “I’m going to fucking fail this test. My head is full kick ass memes and poetic lyrics. There is no space for math. Hey, thanks. My favorite.” He takes the food offered to him and shakes the apple juice. “Do you have a spoon?”

Karkat reaches into his backpack, “Yeah, give me a sec.”

When Karkat looks back up he sees a bizarre sight. Dave opens the juice and takes a quick swig of it. He lets out a moan that Karkat pretends doesn’t affect him and then Dave proceeds to pour the apple juice into his cheerios. 

“Sweet, thanks.” Dave takes the spoon from a horrified Karkat. 

“What the fuck is that?” 

“The best way to eat cereal?” Dave’s mouth is full when he responds.

Karkat kicks Dave’s shin playfully “That is disgusting.”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you try it.”

The study room is small, definitely meant for one person, so they’re sitting close, knees touching.

“How’d it go with Nepeta?” Dave channels all of his cool energy into the question. He’s been wondering what they talked about the entire time he was supposed to be studying. Sending semi-panicked messages to Rose instead of going over his notes. 

Karkat leans on the slab attached to the wall that serves as a make-shift desk. He rests his head on his hand and watches Dave eat his deranged combo for a moment.

“She offered me a place to stay during winter break.”

Dave stops eating.

“It’s nice of her,” Karkat continues, “But I have no fucking clue what I am actually going to do this winter break. I’ve never not gone back to Alternia during a break but the last couple of times, it’s been--” he stops to find the words, “It’s been an adjustment,” he settles. 

“But!” he groans, “I don’t know what to do if I don’t go back! We have to be out of the dorms by Saturday, which is a bunch of BS if we’re only gone for two weeks. Kanaya and I are going to talk about it tonight.”

Dave finishes the last of his cereal and drinks what is left of his apple juice. 

“I’m not sure what I am doing either,” he doesn’t want to go back to Texas. Not yet. He’s not entirely sure his dad would really want him there and he doesn't want to deal with another confrontation, like last time. He could always go with his mom and spend the break with Rose but he’s also not entirely sure that Rose is planning to go back to New York this winter either. They haven’t really talked about it. He knows that the last couple of times that the topic of their mother has come up, Rose has quickly shut down the conversation, a master evader and bullshitter herself. 

Dave isn’t looking at Karkat, he’s staring at his empty palms, resting on his knees. His glasses have slid down the bridge of his nose and Karkat can see his red eyes over the rim of the frames. 

He’s beautiful, Karkat admits to himself, he wonders if his own red eyes look anywhere near as beautiful as Dave’s.

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Dave shifts back to face his computer. He doesn’t ask Karkat to stay in the cramped little room but he doesn’t have to. They naturally just shift to their casual study mode. Dave mumbling to himself words and numbers, providing Karkat with a surprisingly soothing background noise while he reads.

Karkat ends up staying for most of the afternoon. Eventually heading out to bring back dinner for himself and Dave. They opt to sit on a bench outside under the shade of a large tree. They stay and watch the sunset before Karkat announces that he needs to meet up with Kanaya.

“I’ll walk with you.” Dave puts a friendly arm around Karkat’s shoulders. 

“Isn’t your dorm in the opposite direction?” Karkat doesn’t shrug the arm off. A group of old professors walk by and some of them do a double take at the sight.

Dave nods at them acknowledging them as the pass. Karkat glares at them instead. 

“Rose just sent a message. She wants to talk and she’s with Kanaya right now.”  
..

When they arrive, Kanaya opens the door and worry is painted all over her face. She invites them into the room and once inside they can see Rose sitting on the edge of Kanaya’s bed. Her eyes are red and slightly swollen. She smiles at the boys but it doesn’t hide the fact that she’s been crying.

Both Dave and Karkat turn to Kanaya.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Rose hops off the bed. “Kanaya is already worried enough for the four of us. I’m fine. I was just talking to mom.” She gives Dave a look and he seems to respond in the like. 

Karkat and Kanaya wonder if human twins do have the ability to communicate telepathically. 

“What did she say?” Dave’s voice is calm but cold. 

Rose shakes her head, “That’s not important. What is important, is that we are gathered here for an announcement.”

Kanaya tugs on Karkat’s sleeve, she mouths, “Don’t freak out.” Which preemptively makes Karkat start to freak out.

“As you may know, Dave and I turned twenty one a couple of days ago. Which, apart from being a milestone for all the things we can now legally do-- it also means I have access to the trust fund that my grandparents set up for me before their passing.” She reaches for her brother’s hand who looks just as confused as Karkat. “And while that doesn’t mean we can throw caution to the wind with our finances, I have decided to cash in on years of shitty birthdays and holidays.”

“Rose, what the fuck are you talking about?” 

“Dave,” She says, “What do you want to do during winter break?”

He doesn’t mean to but he turns to look at Karkat who stares back confused.

Rose doesn’t wait for Dave to answer, she lets him go and walks to stand beside Kanaya. Their fingers intertwine.

“Did you know Kanaya has never experienced christmas? Or new years on earth? Karkat, have you?”

He shakes his head cautiously.

“Then I think we should all spend a proper agnostic christmas and new years together!” 

The declaration is followed by silence. 

“What!” Karkat finally shouts. “How? What? Why?” He looks at each person in the room. 

“Karkat, you and I were going to talk about winter plans tonight? And I know you’ve been really hesitant about returning to Alternia.”   
Rose nods at Kanaya’s words. Karkat catches the way she keeps glancing back at Dave.

“A nice holiday with good people who are caring and loving,” Rose emphasizes the last part, “would be the most wonderful christmas present we could ask for."

Karkat narrows his eyes at Rose and she does the same. If her eyes weren’t red and puffy it might look menacing, but instead her eyes look sad and pleading. Like she might cry again.

And honestly, Karkat does not have the energy to play the game with Rose. He can’t really fake that he is going to reject the proposal. As soon as Rose put out into the universe the idea of spending winter break, including two of the most romantic holidays in Karkat’s opinion, with Dave Strider, he knew he was going to say yes.  
Because it was as if in delaying a plan for winter break, he was hoping for this very thing to manifest before him. And here it was, Rose had just handed him the question and the answer in one fell swoop.

“I think,” Dave finally speaks, “This is the best idea you’ve ever had, sis.”

Karkat turns to look at Dave, who has the audacity to smile like he is the goddamn prince Karkat has been waiting for his whole life.

“Well,” Karkat exaggerates a sigh of resignation, “I guess I owe you a birthday present.”

Kanaya hugs him from behind and whispers thank you, as if he shouldn’t be thanking her and Rose for the opportunity.   
..

Dave speaks with Rose quietly for a few minutes, while Kanaya and Karkat go over a house listing. Rose has already looked at three different places she thinks would be ideal. 

After they’re done talking, Dave walks over and offers to walk Karkat towards his dorm since it's on the way.

There is no moon tonight. The night sky is dark and unusually quiet. Under the protection of the night, Karkat and Dave both feel emboldened. Like the darkness provides them cover for all of their vulnerability. 

“I think it’s going to be great.” Dave says when they reach the entrance to Karkat’s dorm. “Rose is right, we haven’t really had the best holidays in our family. I think we’ve only spent like, two of them together. But yeah, I think getting to spend it with you and Kanaya is going to be good.”  
Karkat feels his cheeks flush and his palms get clammy. “I’m really looking forward to it too,” he lets himself say. He wants to reach out, he has the sudden urge to hold him, to physically feel like they are both existing in this moment. In the dark.

Dave is the one who moves in. He doesn’t really say anything as he does it. He wraps his arms around Karkat and holds him. Karkat’s own arms come up and hug Dave. The gesture doesn’t necessarily feel romantic or awkward. It feels comforting and warm. 

Karkat realizes, as he is being hugged by Dave in the night, that other than Kanaya --who usually just shoosh paps him-- no one has ever hugged him this way. It feels good and fulfilling. Without thinking, he hugs Dave a little tighter.

When they finally let go. The awkwardness that does settle in does not feel like rejection to either of them. Instead it just feels like the tightness of anticipation for what is to come. 

“Don’t fail your final tomorrow, dumbass.” Karkat says as he walks towards the door.

“Such words of affirmation,” Dave calls back, joy evident in his tone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, about two years ago I watched a student pour apple juice into his cheerios and I had two thoughts, "This child is wild." and then "This is such Dave Strider move." It has stayed with me ever since. 
> 
> Them kid was weird AF but a complete sweetheart. 
> 
> This chapter also had like four different paths I wanted to follow but I had to remind myself that it was late at night and I had taken some melatonin to see if I could actually get some sleep!
> 
> Thank you for reading!!!!


	6. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do you AU an AU? 
> 
> Hallmark christmas movie!
> 
> Day 6 of Davekat week 2020
> 
> They kiss!

Dave announces that they need to go get a christmas tree over breakfast. They are sitting at a round table in the kitchen of the beach house they ended up staying at. 

They’re a few hours away from campus and there aren’t very many people in the other houses surrounding them, but it has made for a peaceful getaway. 

Rose and Kanaya have really taken to spending every second together, which in turn leaves Dave and Karkat to explore on their own most of the time. 

“I didn’t see any tree farms on the way here.” Rose is resting her head on Kanaya’s shoulder. Her hands wrapped around a mug of tea. 

“I saw lots of trees on the highway.”

“I may be mistaken, but is that not illegal?” Kanaya arches an eyebrow,

“Also, you don’t have any of the tools, asshole. What are you going to do? Rip the tree out with your weak ass muscles?”

Dave grins as he stands and runs over to a little supply closet that is in the hallway. He brings back a rusty hand saw. 

Karkat lets out a laugh, “Your stupidity is really going to be the thing that kills you, right?” 

Rose rubs the bridge between her eyes, “I’m going to have to agree with Karkat on this. That thing looks like it’s going to give you tetanus just by looking at it.”

Dave lets out a dramatic sigh and puts the saw back in the closer.

Rose hums, “We also don’t have anything to decorate a tree with, Dave.”

“It’s the principle of the thing! Christmas trees on christmas.”

Rose tapps her chin with a finger. Kanaya leans down and places a soft kiss on her forehead. Dave smiles to himself, Rose looks happier and more relaxed ever since she sharted dating Kanaya. 

“Okay,” Rose concedes. She kisses Kanaya on the cheek before joining Karkat at the sink where he is washing the dishes from breakfast. “Karkat and Dave get to look for a tree. A little one, mind you, because we are going to have to get rid of it later-- and Kanaya and I will go get some groceries.”

So they finish cleaning up and get ready to leave. Dave is the only one who knows how to drive so he drops Rose and Kanaya off at the local grocery store and promises to be back within an hour. 

The radio is playing christmas music and it has been playing christmas music the entire time.

Dave is reaching to change the station to something less played out when Karkat slaps his hand before he can get there.

“Ow!” 

Karkat hisses, “Don’t you fucking dare change the song.”

Dave rolls his eyes, “We’ve heard jingle bells like ten times in the last twenty minutes!”

“You’ll ruin the mood!”

“You know,” Dave says, “I am thinking you’re really invested in this christmas thing. What’s up? Do you have stock in the north pole wall street?”

“I like it! Okay!” Karkat throws his hands up, “So sue me! I like the cheery as fuck themes and all of the romantic gestures that come with christmas. I want to be living in an eternal Christmas hallmark movie!”

“Huh. You’ve literally trashed in every hallmark movie we’ve watched since we got here.” Dave pulls into a tree stand. He wasn’t expecting to find one so quickly. 

“That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy-- Hey? Was this place always here? I don’t remember seeing it before.” Karkat presses his face to the window. 

Dave grabs the cap and scarf from the back seat and throws them on Karkat’s lap. 

“I run hot, remember. It’s not that cold, my sweater is fine.” He grumbles, reaching for the door. 

Dave catches his arm and in smooth succession, wraps the scarf around Karkat’s neck. 

“It looks cute on you. Red like your eyes.” he smiles. 

Karkat buries what he can of his face in the soft scarf, “Fuck off, let’s just go get a tree.” 

The tree stand is full of trees and no people. Which they both agree is unusual, since Christmas is in a day and a half. 

“I mean, we haven’t seen that many people in town. Maybe they just really fucked up on this business?” Dave looks around to see if he can spot whoever is selling trees. 

“Hello? Is there anyone here?” Karkat calls out. There are so many trees lined up that it feels somewhat like a maze. 

A small child appears from within the trees, dressed in green overalls and pigtails. “Grandpa says that you can look around and that he will be right out to help!” Karkat clutches onto Dave’s arm startled at the child’s loud cheerful voice. Dave moves his arm so that their arms are hooked together. 

Just as she came in, the kid runs off into the trees. 

Neither of them unhook their arms but both of them are blushing furiously. Karkat wills himself not to make it more than it is, and tells himself that they are just linked in the way good bros link their arms. After the hug they shared in the night time, Karkat has found himself craving more of Dave. And it has taken a lot of self control to not just throw himself at Dave whenever they’re alone. Having their arms linked, even for a short while, is the Karkat is getting a fix of his drug of choice.

“I think I see some Karkat height trees over there.” He tugs him along. 

“You’re the worst, Strider.”

“You mean the best.”He grins. 

Karkat groans and pulls himself away from Dave. His mind is screaming at him for it, but he also has to save face.

Dave lets out a quiet laugh and motions for Karkat to start looking at trees. 

Karkat is comparing pine needles and sniffing some trees when the face of the child appears between the trees in front of him. 

“What the fu--” He clutches his chest.

“Hi!” She grins, her face continues to be the only thing visible. 

Karkat looks around to see if he can find Dave or maybe the child’s grandfather. He doesn’t think he’s particularly great with children, much less human children. “Kid, you’re kind of terrifying,” he admits.

The girl’s grin grows wider and tootheir, as if Karkat had just paid her the ultimate compliment. 

Suddenly, her expression becomes more serious, “Is that guy your boyfriend?” she whispers.

“What!” Karkat looks around to make sure that no one else was present to hear or witness the questions, “Why the f-heck would you ask that?” He tries to whisper.

“Well, is he?” The child looks at Karkat as if he is wasting her time.

“No!” 

The girl looks him over with narrowed eyes and Karkat feels suddenly self-conscious under the scrutiny of a child that can’t be more than eight years old.

Her expression shifts back to something softer and kinder, “Do you want him to be?” 

Karkat looks around again, worried that this girl is setting him up to look like a fool. 

He decides to evade, “How is this any of your business? Aren’t you not supposed to talk to strangers?”

“Wait right here!” She says and slips back into the trees.

Karkat stands in place. For a moment he wonders if he imagined the interaction. He’s about to walk away and look for Dave when a small arm pops out of the trees again. 

“Here!” she says, squeezing through the trees. Little pine needles poking out of her hair. 

She is holding something inside her small fist. She has her arm out, waiting for Karkat to take the object. 

When he doesn’t move, the little girl reaches for his hand and then drops an ornament in his hand. Karkat is already freaking out but is too stunned to move or yell anything. 

“If you give him this, he will be your boyfriend.” She pats his arm, “But wait for christmas! It only works if it's on christmas!” 

Karkat looks at the ornament. It’s a tiny snow globe on a string. It has a red base and the globe has a tiny cartoon looking reindeer. Little specks of white glitter move around when he shakes it.

He looks at the little girl before him, she is smiling wide, she looks the faintest bit smug--as if she has accomplished something she is very proud of. 

“Okay! Bye!” She shouts before running in the opposite direction she had arrived from. 

Karkat takes a deep breath. What the fuck was that? Were all human children like that?

He thinks about what she said, the christmas deadline and the prospect of Dave being more than just his friend. What would that be like? To be Dave Strider’s boyfriend?

Karkat shakes his head, he knows better than getting his hopes up. And he hopes he knows better than just following whatever advice small strange children give him. 

“Dude, are you okay?” Dave appears around the corner. He’s holding a tree half his size.

“Yeah I’m fine, that kid just freaked me out again.” Karkat walks over to the tree and pretends to inspect it. The tiny snow globe in his sweater pocket. 

“Okay, that’s weak, but whatever. Here’s I think this is the one.”

Karkat nods, ready to leave. 

They make their way out of the maze of trees. Waiting for them is an older man, presumably the kid’s grandfather. He is short and stocky. He has a long white beard and is wearing a dark red flannel.

“Did you find a tree?” He asks them, his voice is loud and gregarious. 

“How much for this one?” Dave holds out the small tree. 

The man laughs, “For that one, let’s do ten dollars!” 

Dave shakes the man’s hand and then passes the tree for Karkat to hold while he takes out some cash. 

While he is doing that, the jolly old man looks at Karkat and winks.

Karkat’s mouth falls agape. 

Dave takes the tree and they both walk back to the car. They secure the tree in the trunk of the rental car and on their way out they see the old man and the little girl wave good-bye to them.

It’s not until they can no longer see the tree stand that they break the silence together. 

“Was that old man hitting on you?”

“That old man was Santa Claus!”

Dave laughs out loud, in a way that Karkat has never heard before, and if truth be told, probably no one had ever heard before.   
It does something to Karkat’s chest. 

“Santa Clause?” 

“Did you not see him? The beard, the gut, the laugh! He was Santa Claus.”

“I thought he was hitting on you with his winking and asking all those questions about you. I actually got worried for a while when I couldn’t find you. Thought he might have kidnapped you.”

They pull into the grocery store parking lot, “Questions?” 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it though. It’s all good. It was just Santa.” he chides.

“Shut the fuck up. He looked just like him.”

“Yeah, no I believe that you believe that man was Santa.” 

Karkat looks at Dave’s smile. The reminder of what he wants sitting in his pocket burning him up. 

“You know what, I wish I had been kidnapped.”

..

Once they’re back in the house, Kanaya and Karkat start lunch. At the beginning of the trip Rose tried to cook and it quickly became evident that it was not a skill in her wheelhouse. Dave tried to help but his attempt was only marginally better. 

Rose calls Dave to sit with her on the couch. She is going to video call John and wants Dave to say hello.

“And you have to help me string these together so we can have a garland.” She says handing him some of her yarn and a bowl of dry cereal. 

Karkat and Kanaya leave them be during their sibling bonding while they cook. 

“How are you feeling?” Kanaya has Karkat stirring some soup while she slices some bread. 

“Fine, I guess. How about you?”

Kanaya smiles, “I mean, how are you feeling about being here with Dave? Sometimes I worry that I pushed you into things too quickly.”

Karkat gives Kanaya a playfully annoyed roll of the eyes, “You didn’t push me into anything. I am really happy to be spending the break with all of you. It’s a lot less stressful than being back on Alternia. I know that our experiences here on earth are not always a dream, but it’s easier to ignore that back home I’m literally a second class citizen that’s one wrong move away from disappearing without a trace.”

Kanaya hums in agreement and pushes Karkat lightly with her hips. The bread is in the oven, the soup is just about ready, but she waits to call them to lunch since she can still hear them talking with John. 

“What do you think about Dave,” Karkat asks, he tries to swallow but he feels like his tongue gets caught in the back of his throat.

“You already know what I think. We’ve talked about this.”

“Yeah, but what if I--” Karkat stops himself. There are a million different ways he wants to complete his statement but every single one feels like thorns caught around his throat. 

“I think you should go for it.” 

“I really don’t want to fuck up our friendship though.” Karkat’s voice comes out faint, a little scared.

Kanaya reaches over and strokes Karkat’s cheek, “In the off chance that Dave does not reciprocate your feelings, I know that he would not let go of your friendship that easily.” 

Karakat nods and pretends he believes what Kanaya is saying. He’s not as sure and he doesn’t know if he could really continue to look at Dave as a friend, knowing that he wants more. Once that line is crossed he knows things will be different. It is a matter of weighing whether the risk of reward is worth it. 

“You know,” Karkat says after a quiet moment, “I met Santa Clause today.”

Kanaya lets out a light laugh, “Oh Karkat, I am sure you think you did.”

They fall into their comfortable teasing and bickering for a moment until Dave comes into the kitchen, his face has clear frustration painted across it. Rose trails in behind him.

“Dave,” She says, it sounds like pleading and a warning all in one. “Dave! I didn’t know she was going to be there.

Karkat’s ears perk up. He wonders who they’re talking about. 

“Lunch is ready,” Kanaya places bowls of soup on the table. 

“Thanks. Rose, it’s fine. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” Karkat asks, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Nothing.” Dave snaps.

“Jade was with John when we called.” 

“Rose, stop.”

“You’re going to have to share that with Karkat eventually!”

Karkat has a vague recollection of someone named Jade. He knows that John has introduced them before. He’s seen her at parties and hanging around the dorm hall before. 

“Not now,” Dave’s voice comes through loud. 

“Fine.” Rose narrows her eyes at her brother. Dave does the same behind his shades.

“Soup?” Kanaya offers.

They end up eating lunch in silence. It’s uncomfortable and it makes Karkat want to scream. He wants to ask questions but whenever he looks like he’s on the verge, Kanaya swiftly kicks his leg and shakes her head at him.

Rose offers to wash dishes when they’re done eating and Dave offers to put away leftovers.

“Oh no, I’ve got it!” Kanaya insists. She pushes Dave out of the kitchen. “Go find Karkat or something.”

Dave does as he’s told and when he doesn’t find Karkat anywhere inside the house he steps out the back door that leads towards the beach. 

..

It’s December and the air is cold. The ocean is near enough that the cold mist brushes on his face. 

He can see that Karkat is sitting further down the beach. He’s under one of Kanaya’s large black umbrellas, the red scarf that Dave had him wear earlier is waving all around.

Dave puts his hoodie up and makes his way towards Karkat. 

“What are you doing?” He asks and sits down next to him. He holds the umbrella and tries to steady it. 

“I was trying to read, but this goddamn wind keeps blowing the umbrella away and then I keep losing my place, and I have sand in my mouth!”

“For sure, that makes sense. I can hold the umbrella for you.”

Karkat closes his book and turns to look at Dave.

“Who is Jade and why does she make you upset?” 

Dave groans, “Straight to the point, why don’t you?”

“Did she, did she like, dump you or something? Are you in love with her?” Karkat shouts so that he doesn’t sound hurt at the idea.

“What? No, she’s, yeah, my ex girlfriend.” Dave’s grip on the umbrella tightens, “She’s a childhood friend, like John.”

Karkat sits back and faces the ocean. 

“We dated for like a year and then I had, well what I call a crisis of sexuality. And Jade and I just really worked a lot better as friends. And I still consider her a friend, but when I broke things off, I don’t know-- things kind of blew up. She kind of insisted that we keep going and I lost my cool, said some shitty things. She did too. Rose and John had to get involved.” Dave thinks back to that time, opening up for the first time to Jade, coming out to her, hoping that his friend who had always supported him in their youth would continue to do so as he discovered and made sense of who he was. 

“We’ve kind of patched things up since then.” Dave adds.

“Then why were you upset when she was on the call?”

Dave takes his free hand and pushes back his hoodie and then runs his hand through his hair a few times. 

“I think the holidays make her lonely, to be honest. And she made a couple comments that just--I don’t know. I just don’t want to feel bad about moving on.”

Karkat nods. There’s a sense of relief knowing that Dave isn’t holding on to an old flame. Despite that, he also feels for Jade. Rejection is a feeling Karkat knows well.

“Do you want to go back to the house and watch the Hallmark marathon?” Karkat offers.

“Yes. But if Rose and Kanaya are doing the dirty then I am gonna come back and throw myself into the ocean.”

..

The four of them settle back into a domestic routine. They spend christmas eve trying to cook a nice dinner and listening to music. The entire time, the little snow globe ornament snug in Karkat’s pant pocket. 

“We’re gonna head to bed,” Kanaya and Rose announce a few minutes before midnight. 

“Yeah okay, Merry Christmas.” They all take a moment to exchange hugs before the two of them go to bed. 

Karkat and Dave sit in the dark. Their eyes fixated on the little green christmas tree. 

“So,” Dave starts, “I know that we said no gifts, and this is kind of like a shitty christmas present but I would be lying if this thing wasn’t really me putting all of my eggs in a basket, so to speak. Putting my faith in a fat man that I really thought was going to kidnap you.” Dave reaches into his pocket and pulls out, to Karkat’s surprise, a tiny snow globe with a reindeer inside.

“Oh my god,” Karkat breathes, “Oh. My. Fucking. God!” he scrambles to stand up to take out the ornament in his pocket. 

“This! I was about to give this to you!” he holds out the identical globe out to Dave.

“Okay? Uh, well I was planning to kind of make a grand gesture out of this.”

Karkat kneels down facing Dave. “The creepy kid at the tree stand gave this. She said to give it to you on christmas.”

Dave takes Karkat’s gift and replaces it with the one in his hand.

“Yeah, the old man gave this to me and said that if I gave it to you today, you’d uh--” he’s blushing bright red, “Uh, that you’d be my boyfriend?”

“Oh god, that’s literally what the girl said.”

They stare at each other for a moment.

“Did it work?” Dave whispers.

Karkat feels like his skin is buzzing, “Dave, take off your stupid glasses.”

“huh?”

Karkat groans, “Please, just hurry and take off your stupid, fucking glasses!”

Dave takes them off and it is the first time he meets Karkat’s gaze without them. Karkat sees tenderness in the way that Dave is looking back at him, and once again, under the guise of the night both feel a little braver.

They both lean in, Dave’s hand reaches to cup Karkat’s face before sliding to the back of his head. Dave doesn’t need to tug or really guide him, Karkat closes the distance, eyelashes fluttering as they close for impact.

The kiss is soft. Almost innocent. 

They don’t pull apart immediately, Karkat cautiously reaches up to wrap his arms around Dave’s neck and their kiss deepens. Moving from tender to something sharper and hungrier. 

..

They spend most of early christmas morning making out and whispering to each other. 

Eventually they drift off to sleep in the living room floor next to the tree. 

When they wake up later that morning, they are tangled in each other and covered by a large blanket.

The two little snow globe ornaments have found their way to the tree and hang side by side on one of the branches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe we made it to day 6! Tomorrow is the last chapter! 
> 
> I'm thinking it'll be a time skip? I really wanted to do something with the new year but I also kind of really want to do something where they're already an established couple. What do y'all think?
> 
> Thank you for all of your words of encouragement! It means a lot to me! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	7. Time skip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last day for the davekat week prompts! 
> 
> We skip three years into the future. Dave and Karkat talk about children.

Dave Strider knocks on Karkat’s door, a plate with a sandwich in his other hand. 

Karkat lets out a loud gargle and Dave takes it as an invitation to go into the dark room. His boyfriend is hunched over the computer, frantically typing away.  
Dave sets the plate next to him and leans down to give him a peck on the cheek. 

It has been three years since they got together and two since they graduated from college. Dave decided to pursue an internship in Los Angeles right after graduation, and while there was a long conversation about the future of their relationship with tearful declarations, it was never a doubt for either of them that they would be together. 

So it was decided quickly that Karkat Vantas would be moving to LA with Dave. They found a two bedroom apartment that is too expensive to be worth it, but they have managed to survive.

In the two years that they have been living in LA, Dave has managed to get some of his music in some independent films and has begun working with some A-list artists with their music. As for Karkat, his movie blog blew up overnight and was quickly picked up by a local hipster magazine as a writer, while at the same time working on his first manuscript. 

When they’re not working, they go out and enjoy the LA nightlife. The city being just as alive during the day as it is in the night due to such a large troll population in the area. 

Karkat lets out a heavy sigh and slams the computer shut.

“Done! Fucking done forever!” he announces.

“You mean until next week.” Dave teases.

“Shut up, let me enjoy this sandwich that my hot boyfriend made.”

Dave grins and takes off his shades. He does it a lot more frequently now that they live alone, and it makes Karkat feel exceptionally special every time that he does.

“You know,” He says with a mouth full, “If I didn’t know better I would think that you’ve been using your glasses to train me to psychologically associate taking your glasses off with making out.”

Dave wiggles his eyebrows, “Is it working?”

Karkat sticks his tongue out but doesn’t waste time in leaning over and kissing Dave firmly on the lips. 

“I talked to Rose and Kanaya earlier this morning,” 

Karkat scoots closer to Dave on the couch so that their sides are pressed and his head can rest on his shoulder. 

“Apparently they’ve been thinking about looking into adoption.”

“I think they’d be good parents. They’re like, one hundred times way more equipped to raise a kid compared to everyone else we know.” 

Dave makes a hum in agreement, “Gets me thinking though,”

“About what?” Karkat’s voice gets muffled as he situates himself so that he can bury his face in the crook of Dave’s neck. 

“Do you ever think about kids?”

Karkat freezes and pulls back to look at Dave.

“Not usually? Dave, are you about to confess to some criminal shit?”

Dave flicks him in the chest, “No dumbass, I mean us. Having kids. Raising a little junior. Passing on our infinite wisdom.”

“We don’t have much wisdom,” Karakat teases.

“Fair. But I don’t know. I just--agh.” Dave reaches for his shades and puts them back on his face. 

Karkat’s face twists in disappointment and a little guilt.

“That’s not something that I think we are-- that I am ready for right now.” he corrects himself, “but if it’s with you? A couple years down the line when we can afford to not live in a closet-- I wouldn’t mind raising a little human or wriggler with you.” Karkat’s voice gets unusually soft. 

Dave stares back at Karkat and takes his hand, “Yeah?”

Karkat smiles, “yeah. But Dave Strider, I’m not that easy. I need to be married before I think about starting a family with you.”

Dave chuckles and leans in for another kiss, “I’ll get right on that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah!! I have completed my first ever fan week! From start to finish!
> 
> One of my favorite tropes for davekat is them raising children. I don't know why. Or just...working with kids. Or one of them has a kid, like a single dad thing....
> 
> There's a couple threads within this story that I kind of want to explore and kind of fill out since all of this has felt like the scattered bones to something longer. 
> 
> we will see!
> 
> Thank you again for all of your encouragement and for reading along. It's been years since I have engaged with fandom and participating in davekat week has been really good for my quarantined soul. 
> 
> I hope to continue creating and being with fandom even as things pick up with work.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read this. 
> 
> I recently fell back into a Davekat deep end and I really wanted to write some stuff that would help me get all of these classic fandom-shippy feelings out.
> 
> Thank you for following along this last minute stream of conciousness!


End file.
